‘Love of Color’, an exhibit of paintings by Lois Kearney and Alice Laputka, will take place at The AFA Gallery from July 3 until July 26. There will be an opening reception on Friday, July 4, from 6 to 8 PM. The opening reception will be part of downtown Scranton’s First Friday event, celebrating openings at a wide variety of art venues.
The exhibit will focus on the artists’ love of color in their works. Lois Kearney, a life-long Scranton resident, works primarily in oil and watercolor. In creating a painting, she paints on site several monochromatic sketches to establish light direction and composition. She then decides on a color palette and takes notes, photographs and videos as well. In the quiet of her studio she will then recreate the scene in her mind and on paper or canvas.
Lois received her BFA from Marywood College with further studies at Pa. Academy of Fine Arts and Studio Incamminati. She takes pleasure in painting local woodlands with particular interest in waterfalls. Her paintings are influenced by her travel, often conveying breathtaking landscapes. She has been commissioned for work in private collections in the U.S., Europe and China. She is a former Gallery Coordinator at The AFA Gallery.
Alice Laputka’s highly-composed, vividly-colored paintings uniquely express her response to the world around her. She plays with the colors and shapes that she observes in the landscape. She looks at her subject matter in terms of its abstract design - seeing shapes, line and color - even though the final result is still representational. Occasionally abstract paintings help to reinforce her abilities with composition and color and enables her to explore in directions that she might not otherwise have tried in her representational work.
Alice Laputka resides in Conyingham in Luzerne County. A native Pennsylvanian, Laputka earned a BFA in Graphic Design from the Philadelphia College of Art. She is a full member of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, New York City; a signature member of Knickerbocker Artists; the Pastel Society of America; the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society; and the Philadelphia Water Color Society. Alice has had several solo shows in Pennsylvania and New York. Her work has been included in several books and magazines. She has written articles for the Pastelagram, an in-house publication of the Pastel Society of American and edited their 2006 and 2007 summer issues. She is also a member of the Maryland Pastel Society, the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA), and Philadelphia Tri State Artists Equity.

‘Line Items’, an exhibition of photographs by Philip A. Dente, will be on view at the Melberger Arts Center Gallery at 123 Wyoming Ave, Scranton, from June 6 through August 1st. There will be an opening reception on First Friday, June 6, from 6 to 8:30 PM.

MAC hours are Monday - Friday from 10 AM to 8 PM. Weekend hours by appointment. Please call 570-239-2459 or 570-343-2300, ext. 0

A free grant workshop for folk and traditional artists will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, at the Electric City Trolley Station and Museum, 300 Cliff Street in Scranton on the campus of Steamtown National Historic Site.

The workshop is for artists practicing a living, traditional art in their community. Examples include embroidery or lace making, traditional dances, wood carving, herbal remedies, songs sung in church or temple — the kinds of arts that are passed on from one generation to the next and reflect the values of the community.

Lisa Rathje of the Institute for Cultural Partnerships will lead the workshop about the various grant programs for individual traditional artists that are offered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. These include the 2009 Fellowships in Traditional Arts ($5,000) and 2009 Apprenticeships in Traditional Arts (up to $4,000). The application deadline for these grant programs is August 1, 2008.

Come learn about the grant process, ask questions about your ideas, and get hands-on help with your grant application. To make the most of this technical assistance workshop, download the application and bring your questions to the workshop. Guidelines and application forms will be available in early June at www.culturalpartnerships.org or www.pacouncilonthearts.org.

Folk and traditional arts are alive and well in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and this is a great opportunity for these artists. Please help us spread the word by passing this email along to friends, family members and co-workers.

The workshop is hosted by the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority and the Lackawanna County Office of Arts and Culture. To register, call the Electric City Trolley Station and Museum at (570) 963-6590.

Gallery Aferro in Newark, NJ invites artists working in any and all media to submit existing work, or propose new work, in response to the following: #1-Tabula Rasa: |ˈtäbyoŏlə ˈräsə; ˈräzə| an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean slate. The human mind at birth, viewed as having no innate ideas. ORIGIN Latin, literally ’scraped tablet,’ denoting a tablet with the writing erased. #2- René Descartes, Aristotle, John Locke #3- Denying what is obvious. #4- Nothing is new, nothing is original. #5 Existentialism and the nothingness of existence, ennui. The exhibition is curated by Evonne M. Davis and will be on display September 6 - October 4, 2008, with full color catalog. For submission guidelines, visit www.aferro.org. Deadline July 15, 2008.

Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis is accepting entries for its 8th Annual American Landscapes exhibition, which takes place September 5 - October 12, 2008. Juror: F. Lennox Campello. Open to all media depicting the American landscape. Entry fee: $25 for up to two images; additional four entries $5 each. Awards totalling $1,500 will be presented. For prospectus, send SASE to MFA Circle Gallery, Dept. RAL, 18 State Circle, Annapolis MD 21401; e-mail info@mdfedart.org with subject line American Landscapes Dept. AA; or download from www.mdfedart.org. Deadline June 30, 2008.

The fourth annual Scranton Jazz Festival will take place Friday, August 1st through Sunday, August 3rd at the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in downtown Scranton, PA.

The main stage will host thirteen international, national and regional groups and musicians. Downtown Scranton will come alive for three nights with music at numerous participating venues.

This year’s jazz, blues and world beat headlining artists include: Spyro Gyra, the New York Voices, jazz legend Phil Woods, Hendrick Meurkens, the Marko Marcinko Latin Jazz Quintet, Donny McCaslin, Sherrie Maricle & Five Play, J.D. Walter, the Chris Parker Group, bluesman Michael Powers, Jay Ashby, Enja recording artist, Bob Degen, originally from Scranton, and many more.

Information on tickets and artists is available at www.pajazzallliance.com. Radisson Hotel package information: 570-342-8300.

illustration by jime grabowski

The fourth annual Scranton Jazz Festival will take place Friday, August 1st through Sunday, August 3rd at the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in downtown Scranton, PA.

The main stage will host thirteen international, national and regional groups and musicians. Downtown Scranton will come alive for three nights with music at numerous participating venues.

This year’s jazz, blues and world beat headlining artists include: Spyro Gyra, the New York Voices, jazz legend Phil Woods, Hendrick Meurkens, the Marko Marcinko Latin Jazz Quintet, Donny McCaslin, Sherrie Maricle & Five Play, J.D. Walter, the Chris Parker Group, bluesman Michael Powers, Jay Ashby, Enja recording artist Bob Degen, originally from Scranton, and many more.

Information on tickets and artists is available at www.pajazzallliance.com. Radisson Hotel package information: 570-342-8300.

The fifth regional biennial for Northeastern Pennsylvania and surrounding counties, NEPA REGIONAL ART 2008 is a cultural initiative of four visual arts venues. The exhibit takes place concurrently at each site: The AFA Gallery, The Linder Gallery at Keystone College, Mahady Gallery at Marywood University, and The Hope Horn Gallery at The University of Scranton.
The Juror is Mary Holahan, Ph.D., Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Delaware Art Museum. Recent exhibitions she has curated include a major retrospective of the work of Fernando Botero, featuring paintings, sculptures, and drawings chosen from Botero’s private collection, and an exhibit of Nickolas Muray’s photographs of Frida Kahlo and her circle.
Prizes included $1000 for Best in Show; $750 First Place; $500 Second Place; $300 Third Place; and Merit Awards. In addition, one person shows will be awarded from among the entrants.
Artists from the sixteen counties of Northeastern Pennsylvania and adjoining counties of New Jersey and New York are eligible. Applications are due June 30. The exhibition dates are October 11 until November 21. A full-color catalogue featuring selected works from the exhibit will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.
Copies of the Prospectus may be obtained by calling Darlene Miller-Lanning at (570) 941-4214 or Sandra Povse at (570) 348-6278.

Light up your summer on Friday, August 5 at the Blue Heron Gallery, 121 Main St, Wyalusing, PA. A great evening (5 - 10 p.m.), of music and dancing with The The Jim Waltich Jazz Trio - admission $10,annual benefit fund-raiser for the gallery. Evening includes the new exhibit of art based on the theme of Fire, a poetry reading, the release of the accompanying catalog and free Lindy dance lesson. For information call 570-746-4922 or wchamber@epix.net for tickets or visit www.blueheronart.org.

Burti Ceramics Studio and Supply, Crystal Earth Studio (Bill Tersteeg) and Jordan Taylor Studio will be open to the public Saturday, May 24th, and Sunday, May 25th, from 10 am to 5pm.
We will also be having a progressive reception Friday, May 23rd from 4pm to 6pm at Burti Ceramics and 6pm to 8pm at Jordan Taylor’s Studio.
Work by more than 10 ceramic artists will be for show and sale at Burti Ceramics Studio & Supply. Please come by and see the pieces we have been working on for the last 6 monthes.

Juried Exhibit - C A L L F O R E N T R I E S
Location: The Greenroom Gallery,
326 Spruce St # 2, Scranton, PA 18503
Deadline for Submissions: 06 June 2008
Date of Event: July 5th & 6th 2008
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Scranhattan Project is an arts festival that includes a variety of artwork and provides public venues for members of the Scranton community to experience a range of artwork from local and regional artists. Our specific goals are to:
1. Educate the Scranton community about the many facets of the arts and expose them to the diversity of talented artists living and working in the region.
2. Bring artists from all ages and disciplines together in attempt to help build and strengthen connections within the local artist community.
3. To help perpetuate the ongoing economic and cultural development by bringing a diverse crowd of individuals to downtown Scranton in support of the arts.
4. To help raise awareness of and funding for local artists and arts organizations.
The festival will include an outdoor festival where artists can set up canvases, displays, and short performances, as well as ticketed cabaret performances inside the Hotel Jermyn performance space. Music events will also be scheduled on an outdoor stage at certain times throughout the festival.
Eligibility:
Artists of all ages are welcome to submit digital images, slides or photographs of work for consideration by June 6 at Anthology Books.
All work submitted will be subject to a juried competition for inclusion in the final show. Submitted work does not guarantee that it will appear in the show.
Entry Rules:
(1) All media will be considered.
(2) Submit digital images, slides, or photographs of your work, as well as complete contact information & artist statement, to Anthology New and Used Books, located at 515 Center Street, Scranton, PA 18519.
(3) Installation pieces must include a brief project summary. There is a separate form for video/film artists. Please contact us at scranhattanart@hotmail.com for details.
(4) Only original work will be shown. No reproductions will be accepted.
(5) Entry is limited to 5 total pieces per person.
(6) Include a description of each image with the following information:
a. Artist Name
b. Title
c. Media
d. Dimension
e. Date
(7) Panel of jurors will meet on the second week in June. Artists will be notified of acceptance by June 13th.
Entry Fee: $20.00- flat fee per artist
Cash/Check will be accepted with the submission of your images.
Please make checks out to The Antenna Magazine.
(Fee will go towards monetary awards in several different categories.
Awards will be announced on the second day of the festival. )
If you would like your images or slides back, please include a self- addressed stamped envelope with your submission. Work will NOT be returned without a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Calendar:
6 June 2008: Deadline for image submission
13 June 2008: Notification of acceptance
17 June 2008: Artist agreement due
23 June 2008: Work being mailed must be postmarked by this date
23-27 June 2008: Work drop-off; location TBA.
5 & 6 July 2008: 1st annual Scranhattan Festival, downtown Scranton
Jurors:
A panel selected from local artists, gallerists, arts professionals and educators will judge the show and select work for display in the Greenroom Gallery.
Liability:
All possible care will be taken in the handling of entries. Entrants accept that the Scranhattan committee, its volunteers and governing boards are not responsible for loss or damage to any entry.
If Accepted:
(1) Artist Agreement & information will be sent to you regarding drop-off information and festival details.
(2) Artists must include a bio, contact information and artist statement with submission of contract.
(3) In addition, all accepted work MUST include a completed entry form/ID tag. The tag must be attached to the reverse of each original piece. Work submitted without a completed entry form will not be included in the exhibition.
(4) Artists MUST return a signed artist agreement no later than June 17th.
All work must be ready for exhibition. Please make sure to include any necessary hanging devices with your work.
(5) All work accepted must be submitted between the dates of June 23-27; location TBA. Work may also be submitted via mail to Anthology New and Used Books, with attention to Scranhattan Art, 515 Center Street, Scranton, PA, postmarked by the 23rd of June.
(5) Sale of artwork will be the sole responsibility of the artist and the buyer. The Greenroom Gallery will not take commission on any artwork sold. The gallery will have no involvement on the actual sale of the work, however, with permission, the gallery will provide the public with the artists contact information as well as recommended price if work is for sale.
Contact:
Stefanie Bush & Terra Steele
scranhattanart@hotmail.com

The Red Shoes Dance Company featuring AFA friends Rachel Dare and Nasim Mahdavi will be dancing at the Steamtown Cigar Club on May 30th and then having their Spring Festival on June 13th at 7pm.

At Starbucks at the Steamtown Mall on First Friday, June 6, there will be an event called “Arabian First Friday and Visions From the East”. There will be bellydancing from 7-9 PM and and an exhibition of photographs of Afa Artist Rachel Dare from her Rotary trip to India and Nepal.

STAR Art Gallery at the Steamtown Mall invites the public to be part of the 3rd Artist’s Market & Music Festival - On May 17, 11 AM til 6 PM.

Local Artists are selling original art, while musicians will keep everybody entertained. Among them are STAR Blues band, Sligo Creek Bluegrass Band, Bob Ross - Solo Act, Everly Brothers Tribute Act, with Dick Plotkin and Tom Gavern, and More!!!

The Market will be on the 2nd Floor Atrium, next to Steve & Barry’s.

Held the 3rd Friday every month in downtown Wilkes-Barre and recently expanded to include a self-guided tour of Kingston venues too! This family event features galleries and cultural venues offering a variety of art exhibits, studio tours, spoken word, historical exhibits, entertainment, refreshments at most venues. Art Walk maps available at venues and on the trolley. For a list of this month’s W-B venues go to www.artsyouniverse.com and click on the 3rd Friday link or call 823-0518. For info on the Kingston venues go to www.wordpainting.com or call 328-8658.

Mixed media exhibit featuring local artists Richard Derby, LL Eveland and Jacqueline Havira at the Marquis Art & Frame Second Floor Gallery, 122 South Main St, downtown Wilkes-Barre from May 16 through June 28. Featuring fabric collage by Richard Derby, mixed media and acrylic on canvas by LL Eveland and handcrafted jewelry by Jacqueline Havira. An opening “Meet the Artists” reception will be held on May 16 from 5pm-8pm. Reception is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday 10am-5pm. Call 823-0518 for more info.

The Cultural Council of Luzerne County is sponsoring a bus trip to the Roberson Museum in Binghamton, NY, to visit a docent-directed tour of the the exhibit, ‘Visons of the Susquehanna’, 250 years of paintings by American Masters, on Friday, May 30, 2008, leaving at 10 AM. The cost is $50 per person, including lunch, transportation and admission. Call 408-4439 for information or reservations or contact www.cclcarts.org.

Earl Lehman joins William Chickillo and Zoja Forsberg at an exhibit entitled ‘Spring 2008′ at the Skylake Gallery in Fleetville. There is an opening Reception and Raffle on Friday, May 30, 6-9 PM. The exhibit continues until June 29. For further information call 945-7000 or www.skylakegallery.com.

NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION. August 7 - September 7, 2008. Open to 2D and 3D work not to exceed 12” in any direction. Jurors: Phil Carroll - Curator Perkins Center, Instructor and Lecturer. Dr. Ross Beitzel,- Art Professor, Curator. FEE: $20 for up to 3 entries. Cash awards: 1st/$500; 2nd/$200; 3rd/$100; 4th Honorable Mention. Commission: Artist 65%, Gallery 35%. Prospectus: www.fusionnj.com , SASE to Fusion Gallery, 697 Haddon Ave, Collingswood NJ 08108 or 609-410-8800. DEADLINE JUNE 14.

Soft Pastel Artists: Pastel Society of America. Seeks entries for 36th Annual Open Juried Exhibition at National Arts Club, Sept 5-20, 2008. Send SASE (#10) Elissa Prystauk Exhibition Chair, PSA, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003 for prospectus. Info: 212 533 6931. pastelny@juno.com. www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org. Deadline for Slides: Jul 1.

Oil, Watermedia, Pastel, Graphics, Sculpture - Allied Artists of America. Seeks entries for 95th Annual National Exhibition Nov 13-Dec 2, 2008 at National Arts Club, NYC. SASE Rhoda Yanow, 19 Springtown Rd., White House Station, NJ 08889 or website for prospectus. www.alliedartistsofamerica.org. deadline: Sept 15.

Deadline July 03, 2008 : DaVinci Art Alliance, a non-profit artist cooperative organization located in South Philadelphia, is accepting entries for Photo Synthesis, a multimedia juried awards exhibition of art employing photography or inspired by any photographic process such as collage, montage, photo-realistic painting and drawing, printmaking from photos, etc. Because of space restrictions, dimensions are limited to 36″ x 36″ for 2D work; 20″ x 12″ x 12″ for 3D work. All work must be prepared for display with proper framing, hooks, hanging wire, or proper equipment. Juror and Awards Judge: Jon Naar, internationally acclaimed photographer and author of twelve books on topics encompassing design, fine art, photojournalism, ecology, environment, architecture. In 2007, Naar’s book The Birth of Graffiti was published by Prestel. Entry fee $15 for up to three images for non-members; $10 for DaVinci members. For a prospectus, visit www.davinciartalliance.org or send SASE to DaVinci Art Alliance, 704 Catharine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147.

Deadline June 15, 2008 : To celebrate the grand opening of ArtHouse Lounge, located in Harrisburg, PA, artists 17 years of age and older residing in Pennsylvania, Maryland, or D.C are invited to submit work for a 2D art exhibition. 2D works in the following media will be considered: paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolor and gouache; drawings in pencil, pastels, pen & ink; printmaking & mixed media also considered. No giclee prints. Juror: Evan Summer, MFA, Yale University. One piece each from the top finalists will be displayed in the gallery up to & during Gallery Walk, August 10 - September 8, 2008; the top three artists will win awards. Size limitations: 40″ including frame. To apply, submit JPGs under 1MB each via online entry. Entry fee $25 for up to three; $5 for each additional image up to five total. For a prospectus, visit http://www.arthouselounge.com/events.asp.

The AFA Gallery will present an exhibit of the work of Nathan Tersteeg from June 5 through June 29, 2008. There will be an Artist’s Reception on First Friday, June 6, from 6 to 8 PM.
Nathan is a native of northeastern Pennsylania, having grown up in Factoryville and graduated from Keystone College. He now resides in Richmond, Virginia. He also graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA and the University of Cincinnati with a MFA.
The title of the exhibit, ‘As Flotsam’, refers to floating debris in an ocean, according to the artist, sort of like Ishmael at the end of Moby Dick. The show features painted works (gouache on paper) that deal with a lone spectator in a drifting glass container observing or being directly involved in a variety of episodes that turn his everyday items and substances (wood shavings, wheel, water, waterbottle, food, food dish, and glass) into characters in his narrative. At turns charmingly comic and emotionally profound, the works attempt to address complex issues of consciousness, destiny and eternity.
Along with these works is a 32-foot long hamster cage with attached library-style ladder that allows viewers to more closely examine the work and view a hamster firsthand. The show also includes some charcoal drawings and some short-form linear narratives involving hamsters. Almost all the work has been generated in the last several months.

The AFA Gallery is located at 514 Lackawanna Ave, Scranton, PA. Hours are Thursday-Saturday, 12-5 PM. For further information, call 570-969-1040 or view the website at www.artistsforart.com.